Meaning & use
preceded in death
Last updated
UK/prɪˌsiːdɪd ɪn ˈdeθ/
US/prɪˌsiːdɪd ɪn ˈdeθ/
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseformal
Used in an obituary to say that a relative died before the person the notice is about.
Grammar: Usually passive, with by: he was preceded in death by his wife.
Patterns
- be preceded in death by someone
She was preceded in death by her husband and a brother.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.
The farmer was preceded in death by his wife of fifty years.
Common combinations
- preceded in death by her husband
- She was preceded in death by her husband in 2010.
- preceded in death by his parents
- He was preceded in death by his parents.
- also preceded in death
- He was also preceded in death by a son.
- preceded in death by a sibling
- She was preceded in death by a sibling.
- preceded in death by grandparents
- He was preceded in death by all four grandparents.
Synonyms and how they differ
- predeceased
- Predeceased is a single formal word with the same sense, but preceded in death is the more common obituary phrasing.
- died before
- Died before is plain and informal and sounds blunt in a funeral notice.
- survived by
- Survived by points the other way: it lists the relatives still alive.
Opposites
survived by
Word family
- precede verb
- to come before
- predecease verb
- to die before someone
- predeceased adjective
- having died before another person
- obituary noun
- a notice announcing a death
Commonly confused: preceded in death or proceeded?
preceded in death vs proceeded
Proceeded means went forward, not came before. Do not use it in this phrase.
Practice
An obituary says: 'She was ______ by her husband.' What does this tell us?
Choose one answer.
Preceded in death means the husband died first. Survived by would mean he was still living.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “preceded in death”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.